Harvesting Coffee

He is a father, a grandfather, a patriarch, and an honorable man. It is an privilege to do a portrait of such a person, because such people –... more

by Jordan Henderson

Buy the Original Drawing

Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

30.000 x 22.000 inches

Title

Harvesting Coffee

Artist

Jordan Henderson

Medium

Drawing - Charcoal

Description

He is a father, a grandfather, a patriarch, and an honorable man. It is an privilege to do a portrait of such a person, because such people – honorable men and women who love their families – are so rarely celebrated in our culture. We’ve been taught to prefer “rich and famous,” unfortunately equating these attributes with goodness.

I was staying with a local family at a small town near Lake Aititlán in Guatemala. One evening after dinner while we were chatting, I lamented having arrived after the coffee harvest. The grandfather of the family then informed me that the coffee harvest was not quite over yet, because there were still late-ripening berries to be picked on plants further up the slopes of San Pedro Volcano (which is located above the shores of the lake).

He invited me to join him the next day on his own plot of coffee, and graciously pretended I wasn’t there, taking photos of him gathering the late harvest. In the drawing, Harvesting Coffee, I sought to captures the grandfather’s kind, thoughtful character, as well as the meditative atmosphere in his surroundings.

He is concentrated on the task but in no rush or hurry. Despite his air of ease he picked quickly, efficiently, his hands moving rapidly over the branches as he collected the berries. This fits in well with the atmosphere of his surroundings – the shady, cool feeling of the under story where the coffee plants grow.

I think we forget, when we pick up our morning brew in a drive-through as we’re rushing to wherever we’re rushing to, that coffee is grown by many small farmers, individual people who tend and care for their plot of land, and are not listed on the Fortune 500 company roster. It is for this reason that I seek out companies that emphasize fair trade, partnering with individual farmers with an attitude of dialogue, transparency, and respect – elements that mega corporations, and many rich and famous, do not value.

Uploaded

April 2nd, 2020